Easter, Beach, Luke's Birthday and Mother's Day Pictures

We have taken a bunch of pictures lately that I haven't yet posted.  The first was a family picture on Easter.  I can't believe how quick our kids our growing up.

 We had the opportunity to take some time away for a few days to the beach.  We are grateful for time away to rest, recharge and spend time together.  It was much needed.  It was a beautiful place we rented as you can see.  The ocean was very rough so we couldn't get in the ocean much but we spent a lot of time in the pool.

 Beautiful!

 Caleb did not want his picture taken ;-)

 We were with our friends the Harmans.  Luke likes hanging with Mr. Britt ;-)

Lots of time playing in the water!

Our oldest son Luke just had a birthday on the 9th of May. I can't believe he is 15 already!  We celebrated a few times ;-)  We are so grateful for our special Luke and all the ways God uses him.

Here are a few pictures of the boys with Mom on Mother's Day.  

Flowers the boys picked for Mom.

New Initiatives at Love Guatemala

Over the last few months we have been able to see some new initiatives and schools started.  Below are some pictures and explanations of these programs.

The pictures above are of our pregnancy education program. This is an initiative aimed at educating pregnant ladies how to take care of themselves during their pregnancies and their babies after they are born.

 The pictures above are of our literacy program.  One of the things that continues to increase as we grow is that we have more and more students who can not read and write.  This initiative gives them the tools needed to succeed in their perspective trade schools.

The pictures above are of our newest schools. The English School.  Luvia is our teacher.  This schools will give our students the ability to use English to sell their products to the many tourist that visit the nearby cities.  English is a much sought after language for everyone here.

The last few mission teams we have hosted...

One of the things we do with Love Guatemala is host short-term missions teams.  We have had a couple in the last month or so.  We had a team here serving from Virginia the last week of February.  This team did a lot of things, but they mainly taught in the schools as they brought some artists with them.  Our focus with teams is always building relationships with our students and serving them in many different ways.  Here are some pictures from our team from Virginia:

Virginia Team

 Worship time with the staff and team.

 Making canvases for Art School

 Handing out hygiene kits they brought.

 Teaching in Art School.

 They also helped us paint the English School and other rooms.

Southpointe Church

We had another team come down March 21st-25th from Southpointe Church in Whiteland, Indiana.  They also served our students.  Their main project was building a kitchen for one of the families in our schools.  Here are some pictures of their time with us.

 Dinner and worship time with the staff.

 Student gathering

 Worship time with the team.

 The family they built a kitchen for.

 This pictures shows why we have teams.  They help us love on our community and show them Jesus through simple acts like coloring with the kids.

Thanks Virginia team and Southpointe Church!

We have another team coming down this weekend from our home church, Indy Metro Church.

Will You Pray with Us?

We have seen God do some amazing things in our lives and with Love Guatemala over the last 3 years.  I am convinced that these things only happened as many of you came alongside us in prayer.  Prayer is so essential to what we do or what anyone does as a follower of Jesus!  I wanted to write out a few requests we have both as a family and for Love Guatemala and ask you all to pray with us.  The Lord continues to remind me of Philippians 4:6 that tells us instead of worrying and being anxious we need to pray.

First I want to give God praise for what God has already done and the ways in which he has demonstrated himself in our lives. I praise God for these answers to prayer:

• The building in which he provided for Love Guatemala!
• Health of our family!
• Provision for our financial needs both for our family and Love Guatemala!
• The funds he provided to start the English School!
• The spiritual changes and transformations we have seen in our staff and students!
• And so much more!!

Here are some things we are praying about that you can pray with us about:

• That the gospel continue to take root in the hearts of our staff and students and that we continue to see much change in our lives!
• Financial Provision to start new programs/schools in 2015/2016.
• Fundraising Trip Ben will take in April.
• We are still looking for an English Teacher.
• We still have about 30 students that need sponsored.
• The needs both physical and spiritual of our students. We have lots of needs in all the schools this year!
• We need about $5,000 to equip our computer lab.

Thank you for praying and believing God for big things with us!

Joel's Birthday & Some Family Pictures

It is hard to believe that Joel turned 7 last month! Yes I am a little late posting this but hey better late that never!  I still remember it like it was yesterday.  Probably because I was sick and Jennifer's water broke early one morning and I had to go into work until someone could come and relieve me.  It all worked out but a bit of a challenging time.  Joel has a huge personality and loves life and lives it to the fullest!

Here are a few more pics from his birthday celebration:

Here are some family pictures that we took on Joel's birthday as well: